accountable

accountable

English

Etymology

• First attested around 1400.
• account +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkaʊntəbl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

accountable (comparative more accountable, superlative most accountable)

1. Obliged, when called upon, to answer (for one’s deeds); answerable.

   Every man is accountable to God for his conduct.

   You will be held accountable for your misdemeanors.

   • 2020 April 22, Philip Haigh, “Labour's blueprint for the future of Britain's railways”, in Rail, page 28:

     "Because the railway is economically and socially vital, it receives large amounts of public money and must therefore ultimately be accountable to government. [...]

2. Obliged to keep accurate records (of property or funds).
3. Liable to be called on to render an account.
4. (rare) Capable of being accounted for; explicable; explainable.
   • 1703, Benjamin Whichcote, Moral and Religious Aphorisms:

     True religion . . . intelligible, rational, and accountable, -- not a burden but a privilege.

Synonyms

• amenable, responsible, liable, answerable

Derived terms

• accountable depot
• accountable disbursing officer
• accountable mail
• accountable officer

 

Translations

obliged to answer for one’s deeds

Afrikaans: verantwoordelik, aanspreeklik Albanian: please add this translation if you can Arabic: مُحَاسَب‎ (muḥāsab), مَسْؤُول‎ (ar) (masʾūl) Armenian: հաշվետու (hy) (hašvetu), պատասխանատու (hy) (patasxanatu), հաշվետվողական (hašvetvołakan) Bashkir: яуаплы (yawaplı) Bulgarian: отговорен (bg) (otgovoren) Chinese: Mandarin: 有責任的／有责任的, 有解說義務的／有解说义务的 Danish: ansvarlig (da) Dutch: verantwoordelijk (nl), aansprakelijk (nl) Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Estonian: vastutav Finnish: vastuullinen (fi), vastuunalainen French: responsable (fr) m or f Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: verantwortlich (de) Greek: αρμόδιος (el) (armódios) Ancient: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: felelős (hu), felelősségre vonható Italian: responsabile (it) Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: отчетен (otčeten) Norwegian: Bokmål: please add this translation if you can Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can Persian: پاسخگو‎ (fa) (pâsox-gu) Polish: odpowiedzialny (pl) Portuguese: responsável (pt) Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: отве́тственный (ru) (otvétstvennyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̏дгово̄ран Roman: ȍdgovōran (sh) Slovak: zúčtovateľný Spanish: responsable (es) Swedish: ansvarig (sv) Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can West Frisian: ferantwurdlik

obliged to keep accurate records

Bashkir: яуаплы (yawaplı) Russian: подотчётный (ru) (podotčótnyj)

liable to be called on to render an account

Bashkir: яуаплы (yawaplı) Bulgarian: подотчетен (podotčeten) Finnish: vastuullinen (fi), vastuunalainen French: responsable (fr) m or f Greek: υπόλογος (el) (ypólogos) Hungarian: elszámoltatható Russian: подотчётный (ru) (podotčótnyj)

capable of being accounted for; explicable

Dutch: verklaarbaar (nl) French: expliquable m or f Greek: ευεξήγητος (el) (evexígitos) Icelandic: skýranlegur m Russian: объясни́мый (ru) (obʺjasnímyj) West Frisian: ferklearber

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Catalan: (please verify) responsable (ca) Interlingua: (please verify) responsabile

See also

• hold to account

References

• accountable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• accountable at OneLook Dictionary Search